Feed reversing mechanism for sewing machines



reb. 16, 1943. J .HICKEY FEED REVERSING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed April 28,- 19 l I 3 "Sheets-Sheet 1 JAMES HICKEY INVENTOR ii I ATTdR EYS Feb. 16, 1943. 4 Q ,1. HICKEY 1,1

FEED REVERSING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHI NES Filed April 28, 1941 3 Shets-,Sheet 2 I 0 5 46 1' 23 ll 4 1 7 i 354 1 [1 I I I I0 Q) J34 14 v I (I I I 7 1 I V a Y v JAMES HICKEY INVENTOR ATI'QRNEYS Feb. 16, 1943.

J. HICKEY FEED BEVERSING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES Fil ed April 28, 1941 7 s Shets-Sheet 5 JAMES HICKEY INVENTOR M Q ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 16, 1943 UNITED STATE FEED REVERSING ME Y MAO OHANISM FOR SEVING HINES James Hickey, Portland, Oreg.

Application April 28, 1941, Serial No. 390,777

2 Claims. 112-210) This invention relates to sewing machines, and, in particular, to a certain class of sewing machines equipped with a lever, or similar manually-controlled means, for adjusting the length of stitch made by the machine.

An object of this invention is to provide an improvement for an ordinary sewing machine of a certain design whereby the sewing machine can be made to sew in a direction opposite the normal direction of sewing, that is to say, an improvement by which the direction of the feeding of the material which is being sewed, and thus the direction of the line of stitching, can be reversed Whenever desired.

Another object of this invention is to provide means for adjusting the length of a stitch made by the sewing machine, when the sewing is done in the reverse direction, in a manner similar to that employed in the normal use of the sewing machine.

A further object of this invention is to combine the reversing means and the stitch length control means in such manner that a single lever can be used to control not only the direction of the stitch but, at the same time, the length of stitch to be made in the direction selected.

A still further object is to obtain this improved machine control in a very simple, practical and inexpensive manner, necessitating but slight change in present standard sewing machine construction.

The nature of my improvement and the manner in which I obtain these and other objects through the same are hereinafter briefly explained with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a sewing machine showing the machine removedfrom its supporting stand or cabinet and with certain portions of the bottom broken away for the sake of clarity;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary transverse section substantially corresponding to the line 2-2 of Figure 1, illustrating the relative position of certain of the elements in the operation of the machine at the moment when no movement of the cloth is taking place;

Figure 3 is a section similar to Figure'2, illustrating the position of the some members in the operation of the machine when the cloth-feeding element is in engagement with the cloth so as to move the cloth in one direction;

Figure 4 is another section similar to Figure 2 but illustrating the position of the members when the machine has been set to sew in the reverse direction and the cloth-feeding element is in engagement of the cloth and acting to move the cloth in a direction opposite to that of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary, and more or less diagrammatic view of the reversing mechanism in perspective, taken from below the machine, with the bottom of the machine indicated in broken line and with unnecessary parts omitted; and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional plan view of the cloth-feeding element and associated members and with a portion of the base plate of the machine broken away.

Referring first to Figure 1 a conventional form of sewing machine, as illustrated here in part, includes a base I0, and an upper frame support II, on which is mounted a shaft 12 and balance wheel l2 adapted to be driven by suitable means (not shown) and rotation of which produces vertical reciprocation of the needle IS. A connecting rod l6, which is also reciprocated by the rotation of the shaft I2, in turn produces rotation of the lower drive shaft l4 through the medium of the crank l5. The lower drive shaft I4 is journaled in suitable bearings supported in the base 10 and has the usual loop-taker I! removably attached at its opposite end. v

A bracket arm [8 (seeFigures 2, 3, 4 and 5 to which the cloth-feeding member I9 is attached, is slidably mounted on a pivoted block 20. The block 20 is pivotally mounted on a stub shaft 21 (Figure 2) secured in the machine base I0. The block 20 and bracket arm 18 are held in place on the stub shaft 2| between a rectangular 3 washer 22 (Figure 3) secured on the outer end of the stubshaft 2| and a downwadly-extending portion of the base 10. The bracket 18 has a depending ear or boss 25 to which a pivoted arm 26 is attached by means of a pin 28. The clothfeeding member 19 is secured to the bracket arm 18 by means of a screw l8, extending through a slot in the bracket arm, and by a tongue and groove joint to permit the feeding member I9 to be properly alined with the slots 23 (Figures r 6 and 2) in the needle plate section 24.

A pair of cams 29 and '30 are secured adjacent each other on the drive shaft it near the end to which the bobbin is attached. A substantially horizontal arm 3|, rigidly attached to the bracket arm l8, rests on the cam 29 and serves as a cam follower transmitting up and down movement to the bracket arm 18 and feeding member I9 as the shaft l4 rotates.

A rocker 32, shaped substantially as shown in. Figures 2, 3 and 4 is pivoted for movement in a vertical plane on the screw 33 which is attached to the machine base. The upper arm of the rocker 32 carries a roller 34 which acts as a cam follower on the cam 30. The lower arm of the rocker 32 is attached to one end of a tension spring 39.

The pivoted arm or link 26 has its end bent at a right angle as shown at 21 and is adapted to bear against the adjacent edge or surface 35 of the rocker 32. This surface 35 is preferably concave, as shown in Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5, for a reason to be explained later.

A spring 47 (Figure 2), placed in a counterbore in the bracket arm l8, and held under compression therein with one end bearing against the block 20, tends to move the bracket arm I8, and with it the pivoted arm 26, to the right, and in this Way holds the bent end 21 of the pivoted arm 26 constantly against the concave surface 35 of the rocker 32.

A bell crank 36 (Figure 5) is secured to one end of the rotatably-mounted horizontal shaft 31. A crank arm 40 is rigidly secured near the other end of the shaft 37. An adjusting lever 4| is connected to the crank arm 46 by a link 42. The adjusting lever 4| extends upwardly through a suitable slot in the base and terminates in a handle 43 to which is attached an indicating pointer 44. A scale plate 45 is secured to the top surface of the base Ill and carries radially-disposed graduations with which the handle 43 and pointer 44 are adapted to be alined. The bell crank 36 is connected to the pivoted arm 26 by a link 38.

As apparent from Figure 5, movement of the adjusting lever 4| will cause the pivoted arm 26 to be moved up or down. Thus, when the pointer 44 is at the right-hand end of the scale plate 45, as viewed in Figures 3 and 5, the pivoted arm 26 will be brought into engagement with the lower arm of rocker 32, but when the handle 43 and pointer 44 are moved to the left, for example to the position shown in Figure 4, the pivoted arm 26 will then be held in engagement with the upper arm of rocker 32.

The tension spring 39, one end of which is attached to the rocker 32 and the other endof which is attached to the'bell crank 36, keeps the roller 34 of the rocker 32 in constant contact with the surface of the cam 30, thus causing this to act as a cam follower and causing reciprocal motion to be imparted to the rocker 32 as the shaft l4 and cam 30 rotate. Reciprocal movement of the rocker 32, through the intermediary of the pivoted arm 26, produces horizontal reciprocal movement of the bracket arm I8. Thus the bracket arm l8, and with it the cloth-feeding member l9, are reciprocated vertically by the cam 29 while horizontal reciprocation is produced through the cam 36. As a result of these combined reciprocal motions imparted to the feeding member I9 this member travels in a somewhat oval path and acts to feed or move the cloth while it is passing along the top section of this oval path. The direction of the path described by the feeding member I9, that is to say, the moving of the feeding member in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction, is determined by the position of the handle 43, pointer 44, and lever 4|, in the manner now to be explained with reference to Figures 2, 3 and 4. It is to be assumed in this explanation that the drive shaft [4 and cams 29 and 30 are constantly rotated in counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Figures 2, 3 and 4.

" to the right.

The movement of the feeding member l9 will first be described when the pivoted arm 26 is in the lowered position shown in Figures 2 and 3. In Figure 2 the serrated cloth-engaging surface of the feeding member I9 is slightly below the level of the top surface of the needle plate 24, and consequently at this moment the member l9 does not move or engage the cloth which is being sewed. As the cam 29 rotates, the cam follower 3| and the member [9 are raised until the member I9 engages the cloth and assumes the raised position shown in Figure 3. While member I3 is in this raised position the rotation of cam 36 will then operate to move the rocker 32 from the full line position of Figure 3 to the broken line position shown in this figure. The lower arm of the rocker 32 will thus be moved But this movement of the lower arm of the rocker 32 will permit the pivoted arm 26, the bracket arm l8 and member l9 to be moved to the right under the force of the compression spring 41 (Figure 2). Thus this movement of the rocker 32 causes the cloth-feeding member l9, when in raised position, to move to the right into the position indicated by the broken lines in Figure 3, and while passing over this portion of its oval path in clockwise direction, the feeding member I9 will move the cloth 48 to the right. When the pointer 44 is at the right of the center or zero mark on the scale 45 the cloth is consequently caused to be moved intermittently to the right by the movement of the feeding member l9. The greater the distance the pointer 44 is moved to the right of the center or zero mark on scale 45, the greater will be the distance at which the end 21, of the pivoted arm 26 is positioned from the center of oscillation 33, of the rocker 32, and consequently the greater will be the amount of reciprocal movement imparted to the pivoted arm 26 and to the cloth feeder l9. Since, in sewing machines of this general type, a stitch takes place with each cycle of movement of the cloth feeder IS, the length 'of each stitch is determined by the amount of horizontal movement imparted to the cloth by the feeder l9, and therefore the length of stitch will increase as the pointer 44 is moved a greater distance from the center or zero mark of the scale 45.

Now let it be assumed that the pivoted arm 26 is moved into the upper position illustrated in Figure 4. In this figure the feeding member I 9 is shown in its raised, cloth-engaging position similar to Figure 3. When the cam 36 rotates counter-clockwise the rocker 32 will be moved into the broken line position shown, causing the pivoted arm 26, and with it the bracket arm [8 and feeder l9, to move to the left. The cloth under this situation will be moved to the left, instead of to the right, and the direction of the path of the feeder 19 when in raised position willi be reversed. Thus moving the pivoted arm 26 from the position of Figure 3, in which it engages the lower arm of the rocker 32, to the position of Figure 4, in which it engages the upper arm of the rocker, results in the reversing of the movement imparted to the cloth 48 by the feeder l9. Similarly the amount of movement imparted to the cloth during each cycle of movement of the feeder 19, when the pivoted arm 26 isin this position, and thus the length of the stitch, will depend on the distance which the end 21 of the pivoted arm 26 is raised above the center of oscillation of the rocker 32, vin the manner previously explained, in other words, will depend on the position of the pointer 44 at the left side of the scale 45.-

In this manner, with my approved device, the

direction of movement of the cloth, or in other words the direction of the stitch, and the length of the stitch are both controlled by the single operation of moving the lever handle 43.

By having the bearing surface 35, along the arms of the rocker 32, concave, as shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4, the changes in position of the pivoted arm or movable member 26, produced by moving the handle 43 and lever 4|, as described, will not cause the bracket arm I8 to be moved beyond itsusual path of oscillation, and thus the feeder i9 is not moved from its general central location with respect to the slots 23 and needle l3. This feature I have found to be important in my invention.

The particular means of carrying out my invention which I have described requires very little change from the standard parts and arrangement now common to sewing machines of this type, and therefore I am able to accom- 1 plish my object very simply and inexpensively.

It would of course be possible to provide various modifications in the construction and general arrangement without departing from the principle of my invention, and it is not my intention to limit my invention otherwise than as set forth in the attached claims.

I claim:

1. In a sewing machine, a driven horizontal feed shaft, a cam mounted on said shaft, a bracket arm, a cloth feeder secured to said bracket arm, a rocker located at one side ofthe cam, the face of said rocker remote from said cam being concaved' longitudinally, said rocker mounted for oscillation in a vertical plane, the pivotal point of said rocker located near the longitudinal center of said concave surface,

spring means attached to one end of said rocker acting to hold the other end of said rocker against said cam, a link pivoted at one end to said bracket arm, the free end of said link abutting said concave surface, spring means holding said link in abutment with said concave face, and lever-operated means connected to said link for positioning said abutting end on said concave surface at various distances from said pivotal point either above or below said pivotal point.

2. In a sewing machine, a driven horizontal feed shaft, a pair of cams mounted on said shaft adjacent each other, a bracket arm, a cloth feeder secured to said bracket arm, one end of said bracket arm resting on one of said cams, a rocker located on one side of the other cam, the face of said rocker remote from said other cam being longitudinally concaved, said rocker pivotally mounted for oscillation in a vertical plane, the pivotal point of said rocker located near the longitudinal center of said concave surface and below the axis of said shaft, spring'means attached to the bottom end of said rocker acting to hold the upper end of said rocker against said latter-mentioned cam, a link pivoted at one end to said bracket arm, the free end of said link abutting said concave surface of said rocker, spring means holding said link in abutment with said concave surface, means connected to said link for positioning said abutting end on said concave surface either above or below said pivotal point, a manually-operated lever, said latter-mentioned means connected to said lever, and an indicating scale associated with said lever, whereby the position of said lever will determine the extent of reciprocal movement of said feeder and the direction of the operation of the sewing machine,

JAMES HICKEY. 

